Process of making slivers for use in padding



y 30, 1939- J. A. HUNT PROCESS OF MAKING SLIVERS FOR USE IN PADDINGFiled Jan. 23, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet l y 0, 1939. J. A. HUNT PRDCESS OFMAKING SLIVERS FOR USE IN PADDING Filed Jan. 23, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 2May 30, 1939. J. A. HUNT I PROCESS OF MAKING SLIVERS FOR,USE IN PADDINGFiled Jan. 23, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 www Fffofn 6y Patented May 30, 1939PATENT OFFICE PROCESS OF MAKING SLIVERS FOR USE IN PADDING Jesse-A;Hunt, Collegepark, Ga., assignor' to Egan Cotton Mills, Atlanta, Ga., acorporation of Georgia Application January 23, 1933,. Serial No. 653,157

3 Claims.

This inventionrelates to slivers for use in the manufacture of paddingfor laundry machines of the type in which theslivers comprise a core ofmore or less tough resilient fibrous material with 51' a veneering orcovering of soft fluffy material such as more highly processed cotton,or asbestos, wool orthe like, and in which the padding comprises aplurality of layers of slivers or roving knitted together, and to theprocess of, and ap- 10 paratus for, producing the same.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide a process ofproducing a sliver which when knitted into a padding will result in apadding of uniform thickness and weight throughout 1551 its length andbreadth, the sliver having a central core of resilient fibers coveredwith fibrous material of different characteristics than the core andsuch as will present a smooth and even surface in the softness andparallelism of the getcovering, or surface fibers, which surface fibersmay be comber cotton, wool (or asbestos where extreme heat andwear-resisting qualities are re quired), or the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide 25 aneffi'cient andeconomical process whereby the fibrous materials of differentcharacteristicsto form the core and the veneer or covering of thesliver, respectively, may be runthroughv a card simultaneously anddelivered therefrom in a con- 3u dition in which the core material isenveloped within the veneering or covering and encased thereby, and inwhich a sliver of uniform size, evenness and weight throughout itslength is I produced.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method in which laps offibrous materials of different characteristics, one adapted to comprisethe core, and the other adapted to comprise the covering or veneer ofthe sliver, are formed on 40* pickers, the laps being divided on thepickers into a plurality of longitudinal strips, strips of the differentmaterials being assembledv on each of a plurality of lap sticks with astrip of core material arranged edge to edge and between strips ofveneering material, the materials so assembled being fed fromthe lapsticks in a plurality of overlapping layers through a card, whereby theplurality of superimposed layers are transformed into a web having acentral portion or zone of I the core material flanked on each side by aportion or zone of the veneering material, the web as it is deliveredfrom the card being divided into sections longitudinally, each sectioncomprising aportion of the core material and a contiguous fioportion ofthe veneering-material, the sections as they are'delivered from the cardbeing drawn in opposite directions from' the card and beingsimultaneously twisted with the core material enveloped within theveneering material. In connection with the object of the inventionoutlined above, I have found that by assembling rows of the strips ofdifferent materials edge to edge on the lap sticks, and by superimposingon the travelling apron of a card in a plurality of layers, the stripsfrom a plurality of thelap sticks, a sliveris delivered from the cardwhich is eX- tremely even in the distribution of the materials of boththe core and the veneer, is free of lumpiness, and is uniform in weightand size throughout its length, to a degree unattainable in otherprocesses-which I have tested known to the art, and resultsin a muchbetter finished product.

A further object of the invention is to provide in combination with themechanism of a picker, a series of pivoted and weighted levers providedwith rotatable knives co-operating with an eX- tremely hard calenderroll over which the lap runs, whereby to cut the lap, whether composed;of cotton, wool, asbestos, or other material, into the desired numberand width of strips, the construction being such that the fibers of thelap are cleanly cut'and no indentations are made by the knives on theroll, the knives being so mounted as to be easily removed forsharpening.

Another object of the invention is to provide a padding in which thelayers of slivers of roving are composed of a core of a material having.the characteristics of remaining resilient under the conditions ofpressure, heat and vapor to which such paddings are subjected when inuse on laundry machines, such as jute, flax, low grade cotton, ramie,wool,.etc., and which has not been processed to a great extent, but inwhich the fibers are preferably in a state of interentanglement andintermixture, and in which the veeneringor covering is composed of morehighly processed, relatively fiulfy, fibrous material adapted towithstand the heat to which the padding is subjected in use, such asasbestos, and in which the fibers are arranged in substantially parallelrelationship.

With these and other objects in view which will appear more fully as thedescription proceeds,

reference is made to the accompanying drawings,

in which,

Figure 1 represents a front elevational view partly broken away. of apicker showing a lap of material being formed therein and being dividedinto'strips. t

Figure 2 represents aside elevational view of Figure 1, illustrating thecalender rolls and lap in dotted lines with the cutting knives inoperative position.

Figure 3 represents a fragmentary plan View of the apron end of a card,illustrating the travelling apron, and an assembly of lap sticks on themechanism with the rolls of assembled lap strips mounted on the sticksand illustrating the manner of delivering the assembled lap strips inoverlapping relationship into the card.

Figure 4 represents a fragmentary end view of the doffing end of thecard.

Figure 5 represents an elevational view of the wind-break of the cardremoved therefrom showing the web divider attached thereto.

Figure 6 represents an end view of the windbreak illustrated in Figure5.

Figure 7 represents a view in perspective of a portion of a laundrypadding made in accordance with the invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the picker 2, illustratedin Figures 1 and 2, is provided with a shaft I bolted to the frame sideof the picker by the cap screw 3, and on the shaft is mounted aplurality of curved levers 4 freely journaled at one end on the shaftand maintained in adjusted spaced relationship with reference to eachother by means of the set collars 5. Arms 6 are provided, one for eachlever and at their inner ends may be forked and bolted between the sidesof the curved levers 4 as at 1-1, weights 8 and 8 being slidably mountedon the arms and held in adjusted position by means of set screws 9.

The levers 4 at their outer ends have mounted between their sidesrotatable knives I0, which are mounted in anti-friction bearings II insuch manner that the knives can be removed by releasing the screws I 2and taking 01f the side cover plates I3 which retain the bearings inposition. The levers are so positioned that the rotatable knives areadapted when the levers are in operative position, to bear against thefibrous lap I4 where the same runs over one of the calender rolls I5,and the weights are so adjusted as to bring suflicient pressure to bearon the knives to completely out entirely through the fibers of the lapas the latter moves forward and around the roll I5. The latter is madeof material of such hardness as to resist the cutting action of theknives, so that the latter will not mar the surface of the roll exceptunder long continued use, in which case, the roll can be removed andre-surfaced. The levers are so positioned that they may be movedupwardly and around the pivotal point afforded by the shaft I so as toswing the knives away from the roll and allow access to the,

latter and to the lap being formed in the picker, should occasiondemand. It will be understood that the material being fed through thepicker upon diflerent occasions may be of different texture andcharacteristics, but by properly adjusting the weights upon the arms 6of the levers, the correct pressure can be brought upon the knives tocleanly cut the lap into a plurality of strips as illustrated, withoutbringing undue pressure to bear against the roll. It will also beunderstood that the levers, and hence the knives are adjustablelongitudinally of the rod I, and that one or more of them may, ifdesired, be raised up out of operative position, while the others areleft in operative position, so that the lap can be divided into anydesired number and width of sections as it runs through the picker.

In carrying out my process it will be understood that a number ofpickers may be used, and the material to form the core of the slivers,such for instance, as low grade slightly processed cotton may be runthrough one of the pickersand thus formed into a lap which is dividedinto strips as the lap passes through the picker, while the material toform the veneer or covering of the sliver, such as asbestos fiber isbeing run through another picker formed into a lap and divided by theknives of the picker into strips.

Strips of the laps of diiferent materials produced from differentpickers, are then assembled edge vto edge in rolled condition on each ofa plurality of lap sticks 20, as indicated in Figure 3, two strips I! ofthe laps which have been made of material for the veneering of theslivers, such as asbestos, comber cotton, or other suitable material,being placed at opposite sides of a strip I8 of a lap formed of materialwhich will comprise the core of the sliver, such as low grade cotton,jute, etc. In the arrangement shown in Figure 3, it will be observedthat the strips II of the veneering material are half as wide as theintermediate strip I 8 of the core material. The lap strips thusassembled make up a roll of a width to correspond to the width of thecarrier apron I9 of the card (the dofier end of which is illustrated inFigure 4) and it will be observed that a plurality of sticks having theassembled lap strips thereon, are arranged on the machine, and thematerials from the several lap sticks are fed by the apron in thedirection indicated by the arrows in a plurality of superimposed layersinto the card.

The card acts upon the superimposed laps to transform them into a singleweb which emerges from the doffer end of the card, and which, by reasonof the superimposition of a plurality of laps at the feed end of thecard, comes out in a sheet of substantially uniform thickness andcontinuity, with the longitudinal central portion or zone of the webcomprising the core material of the sliver and the, longitudinal sideportions or zones of the web comprising the veneering or coveringmaterial. Adjacent the doffer end of the card, is arranged a web dividerill in the form of a strip of metal attached to the Windbreaker 2I ofthe card, which divides the web longitudinally at its center, so that asthe doffing comb 22 removes the web from the dofling cylinder 23, theweb is divided into strips, each of which comprises two difierent gradesof materials I8 and ill, respectively, the former of which has beencarded from the superimposed layers of the core material I8 which hasbeen fed into the card, and the latter of which has been carded from thesuperimposed layers of veneering or covering .material I7. As thedivided strips emerge from the delivery end of the card they are rolledupand supported by the web-supporting cylinder 24, and drawn in oppositedirections toward the sides of the machine by the rollers 22} and 29,respectively, and through the twister trumpets 21. As the sections ofthe web pass from the card along the roller, the trumpets exercise atwisting action on the web section, which results in the core materialI8' being completely and uniformly enveloped within the coveringmaterial I'I', so that the sections of the web emerge from the trumpetsas at 30 in the form of a uniform sliver or roving having a core ofresilient relatively slightly processed material, and an envelopingcovering or veneer of asbestos, or other material of more highlyprocessed character than the core.

The roving thus formed is eventually assembled in a succession of plies25, knitted together as at 25, to form a padding for laundry machines.In the padding the layers of slivers or roving are composed of a core l8surrounded by a veneering l'l of material differing in quality and kindand characteristics, from the material which comprises the core. Thematerial of the core such as jute, flax, low grade cotton, ramie, wool,etc., is of a high natural resiliency relative to the material of theveneering (and relative to the cotton used in making paddings in the artat present), such as will make it tend to expand after having beencompressed, and the fibers of the core are preferably in a state ofinterentanglement and intermixture, differing from those of theveneering, which latter as a result of the milling operations throughwhich it has passed previous to the introduction of the material intothe picker are in a more highly processed condition and in substantiallyparallel relationship. The veneering may take the form of comber. cottonin the condition in which -it comes from the last carding operation usedin the processing of the cotton, so that the roving presents an externalappearance similar to that of the high grade cotton which has heretoforebeen used in the art in making the entire roving. This veneering offinished cotton surrounds the more resilient and interentangled fibrouscore of the roving, the core thus acting as an agency which imparts tothe sliver, and to the padding, when the latter has been formed, adegree of resiliency and toughness which withstands to a' ,foreignmatter, however, if present, is not objectionable, as it is entirelyencompassed and hidden by the surrounding veneering. And so,

7 also, with the other materials that may form the core. Theinterentangled condition of the fibers of the core adds to the toughnessand. resiliency of the padding as a whole.

I have found that the use of asbestos fibers to form the veneering orcovering material, is particularly advantageous where padding of highheat-resisting qualities is desired. It will be noted, moreover, thatwith the padding in which asbestos is used as a veneering, theresiliency and toughness of the padding will be retained for arelatively long period of time by reason of the core of the sliversabout which the asbestos veneering is formed being protected to a largeextent from the devitalizing and harmful effects of the heat to whichthe padding is subjected while in use.

In addition to the advantages in use which accrue to the padding madeaccording to my invention, it will be observed that the greaterresiliency, and tendency to expand, imparted by the core to the roving,has the advantage, during the knitting operation, of resisting thecompressing action of the knitted loops, with the result that thepadding when finished, is thicker than paddings, as ordinarily made, ofthe same weight per square surface area, is more compact by reason ofthe tendency of the layers to bulge laterally against each other,presents a more fluffy appearance, and tends to expand between theplaces where it is caught by the knitted loops, so that the latter willin effect be buried in the veneering to a greater extent than with theusual paddings. This is of advantage in increasing the life of thepaddings, for it protects the knitted loops from wear.

The padding may be manufactured in the form illustrated, or, if desired,it may be made up with a reinforced backing of woven fabric as forinstance, in accordance with the patent to Baynard Willingham, No.1,816,416.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by U. S. Letters Patent is,

1. The process of preparing a sliver for use in the making of paddingfor laundry machines, comprising forming a plurality of laps of fibrousmaterials of different characteristics, one of said materials adapted tocomprise the core of the sliver and the other adapted to comprise thecovering of the sliver, dividing each of said laps into a plurality oflongitudinal strips, assembling on each of a plurality of lap sticks,strips of said different materials with a strip of core materialarranged between strips of covering material, feeding the materials soassembled from the lap sticks in a plurality of superimposed layersthrough a carding machine, dividing the web delivered from the cardingmachine into sections longitudinally of the web, each section comprisinga portion of the core material and a contiguous portion of the coveringmaterial, drawing said sections in opposite directions as they aredelivered from said carding machine and simultaneously twisting saidsections with the core material enveloped within the covering material.

2. The process of preparing a sliver for use in the making of paddingfor laundry machines comprising assembling on each of a plurality of lapsticks in. edge to edge relationship a plurality of laps of differentmaterials with the lap comprising the material to form the core of thesliver arranged between the laps comprising the material to form theouter covering of the sliver, feeding the materials so assembled in aplurality of superimposed layers from the lap sticks through a cardingmachine, dividing the web delivered from the carding machinelongitudinally into sections, each comprising a portion adapted to formthe core, and a contiguous portion adapted to form the covering of thesliver, and twisting each of said sections with the core portionenveloped within the covering portion.

3. The process of preparing a sliver for use in the making of paddingfor laundry machines comprising assembling a plurality of superimposedlayers of different materials, each layer comprising a strip of materialadapted to form the core of the sliver, and strips of material adaptedto form the outer covering of the sliver arranged on opposite sides ofand edge to edge with said first strip, transforming the material soassembled into a web of substantially uniform thickness, dividing theweb longitudinally into sections each comprising a portion adapted toform the core, and a contiguous portion adapted to form the covering ofthe sliver, and twisting each of said sections with the core portionenveloped within the covering portion.

JESSE A. HUNT.

